New Zealand Part 1

I realize that a lot of my posts may not necessarily be about quilting, but I have found that every aspect of my life is who I am and so I want to share this on my blog. I want to thank you in advance for reading. After my teaching trip to Australia, Clint and I headed to New Zealand, I have always wanted to go there. Especially since I have watched Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. I have to say, it didn't disappoint. Everywhere I looked was green hills with beautiful pastures of cows and sheep. The topography is amazing there and it was complete eye candy everywhere we looked. Clint had to learn to drive on the left side of the road instead of the right, and that was hilarious and totally confusing at first.

We stayed two nights in a loft in Cambridge and the above photo was our view. It was so beautiful!

We made our way to Hobbiton and the tour was amazing! Seriously. Everything here is natural and part of the amazing outside set for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.

We got to see Bilbo and Frodo Baggins hobbit house.

As well as Samwise Gamgee's place.

I loved how much effort was put into making this look as real as possible, even down to the mailbox.

One of my favorite things about traveling is being able to find different plants and flowers. These little beauties were amazing!

So, so beautiful!

It was hard choosing which pictures to share, but I wanted to share the things that I really loved about visiting there.

Anytime I see a bridge it reminds me of the romantic proposal at the end of Anne of Green Gables. Call me crazy, but I love bridges and one day I will be at the bridge where Gilbert proposes to Anne. Preferably with my own Prince Charming - just putting a bug in Clint's ear ;-)

Clint and I had a wonderful time walking around the Shire. It was a perfect day.

I love these beautiful flowers.

I loved the doors to the Green Dragon. So many inspirations for quilting can be found anywhere. You just have to look!

Later that day Clint and I took a walk to an abandoned Military barracks somewhere in Cambridge. This would be the perfect setting for a quilt backdrop, or using the textures within this building as inspiration for my quilting. I just loved it.

Aren't these flowers beautiful?

These trees were amazing. We were there in the springtime, so everything was coming to life. The birds in these trees were chasing each other and singing, it was really amazing. Clint took a video of the birds in action.